Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Publication
    Cash vs. solar power: An experimental investigation of the remuneration-related design of community solar offerings
    This paper investigates the effect of two different community solar remuneration models on the overall willingness to buy of Swiss electricity customers (n=496). Based on practical observation, the two main remuneration models that dominate today’s implementation landscape for community solar were identified. The first of the former delivers solar power directly from community solar plants, while the second delivers financial compensation instead of solar power. A between-subject-design experiment applying pro-environmental behavior as approximation for intrinsic motivation demonstrated that remuneration schemes which avoid mentioning financial benefits and instead compensate customers with the solar power are particularly attractive to green electricity customers who have higher intrinsic motivation to consume pro-environmental electricity. Offering financial benefits may even discourage these customers from participating in community solar. On the other hand, offering financial benefits appeals to default electricity customers whose intrinsic motivation for pro-environmental behavior is too weak to trigger a reaction to the ecological and local benefits of community solar alone. When designing policies around community solar or implementing community solar projects, policy makers and practitioners should thus carefully analyze the customer base and its composition in order to match remuneration schemes to customer preferences.
  • Publication
    The double-edged sword of ethical nudges: Does inducing hypocrisy help or hinder the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors
    (Springer Science + Business Media B.V, 2018-05) ;
    Mai, Robert
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    To promote ethical and pro-environmental behavior, hypocrisy sometimes is made salient to individuals: i.e., they are made aware that their past behavior does not conform to expressed norms. The fact that this strategy may backfire and may even reduce the likelihood of individuals performing the desired action has been largely overlooked. This paper develops a theory of how hypocrisy stimulates two opposing heuristic processes: one that favors the former, positive outcome (the eco-citizenship effect) and one that renders hypocrisy non-effective (resistance-to-habit-change effect). We test the model and reveal important boundary conditions using the finding of a comprehensive field experiment (1377 consumers). Situational (public vs. private advocacy) and individual factors (low vs. high construal levels) determine which of the competing mechanisms is activated. The paper contributes a novel understanding to managers and scholars of how hypocrisy operates and illuminates the contingencies of when this strategy is beneficial.
    Scopus© Citations 28
  • Publication
    Behavioral and Attitudinal Customer Loyalty in the Power Sector
    (Springer Vieweg, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2016-12)
    The emergence of smart grids changes the customer-utility relationship. To facilitate the transition towards a sustainable, reliable and economically viable energy system, utilities need to develop smart grid products and services that have strong customer acceptance and enable different customer segments to engage in energy efficiency. Thus, integrating customer feedback on innovative smart grid services early in the innovation process is of crucial importance. Further, energy providers need to increase customer loyalty and invest in relationship marketing in order to survive and be successful in a competitive market environment. This article presents the findings of a five-month field experiment that investigated the effectiveness of different reward programs in increasing customer loyalty and customer feedback provision in the energy sector. The results demonstrate that reward programs have a positive effect on behavioral (customer feedback provision) and attitudinal (e.g. satisfaction with the energy provider) aspects of customer loyalty. The reward type matters, however. While monetary reward programs are effective in increasing customer feedback provision, only social reward programs can improve attitudinal aspects of customer loyalty. Energy providers should therefore consider tailoring the reward type to meet their program objectives when employing reward programs.
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  • Publication
    Customer value of smart metering : Explorative evidence from a choice-based conjoint study in Switzerland
    (Elsevier, 2013-02)
    Kaufmann, Simon
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    Implementing smart metering is an important field for energy policy to successfully meet energy efficiency targets. From an integrated social acceptance and customerperceived value theory perspective we model the importance of customer value of smart metering in this regard. We further shape the model on a choice-based conjoint experiment with Swiss private electricity customers. The study finds that overall customers perceive a positive value from smart metering and are willing to pay for it. Further, based on a cluster analysis of customers' value perceptions, we identify four customer segments, each with a distinct value perception profile for smart metering. We find that energy policy and management should integrate a solid understanding of customer value for smart metering in their initiatives and consider different smart metering market segments within their measures.
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    Scopus© Citations 85
  • Publication
    Generic customer segments and business models for smart grids : Empirical evidence from a cross-European country study
    The implementation of smart grids - one of the urgent goals to meet international policy expectations for energy efficiency and CO2 reduction targets - is not a technological issue alone, as it also requires social acceptance by various stakeholders (Wolsink 2011). It is of particular interest that smart grid products and services provide value to the customer. On the one hand, customer value of smart grid technologies is crucial to customer acceptance. On the other hand, as customer value is a key driver for economic value creation and competitive advantage (DeSarbo et al. 2001; Porter 1985), it is also important for companies and investors and thus will affect market acceptance of smart grid technologies. In the literature, business models address the bridge between customers and company needs and serve as mediators between technology and economic success by providing a value proposition to customers and a revenue model for companies (Chesbrough and Rosenbloom 2002). However, we know from the literature that a one-size-fits-all business model may not lead to the best results as it might fail to address heterogeneous customer value perceptions (DeSarbo et al. 2001; Morris et al. 2005; Ruiz et al. 2007; Wiedmann et al. 2009). Thus, different business models providing different customer value propositions need to be developed to fit the different market segments in an optimal way. On the basis of a cross-European country study, we explore three generic B2C customer segments for smart grid products and services based on different value perceptions (Supporters, Ambiguous and Skeptics). Based on the segmentation we conceptually derive four generic business model designs with different customer value propositions best suited for approaching those segments (Saver, Smart+, Trader, Smart Camouflage). Implications for energy policy, research and smart grid management are derived from the findings.
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  • Publication
    How punishment and reward increase customer acceptance of demand response in the energy industry
    (Academy of Management, 2014-08-04) ; ;
    Cometta, Claudio
    Following national and international policy guidelines for energy efficiency and in order to optimize supply and demand, electric utilities introduce demand response programs (DR). However firms struggle how to best help consumers to accept these programs. In the light of recent theories of decision-making that favour heuristic over information-based decision strategies, the paper at hand investigates the role of punishment and reward for consumer acceptance of DR. We find that although electric utilities design DR programs mostly based on rewards (assumingly in fear of consumer loyalty), DR regimes based on punishment appear more effective, without jeopardizing loyalty of consumers. Thus, in the light of prospect theory our data indicates that if firms help customers to avoid a loss in form of a punishment this has a larger positive impact on the intended behaviour than if firms help customers to gain a reward. Implications for practice and especially a demand-based view on environmental management apply.
  • Publication
    FEELING GREEN: DECISION MODES PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY CONSUMER UTILITY CHOICES
    (Hackenfort, Markus; Carabias-Hütter, Vicente; Hartmann, Cathérine; Janser, Marcel; Schwarz, Natalie; Stücheli-Herlach, Peter (Eds.), 2018-09-06)
    Reeck, Crystal
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    Weber, Elke U.
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  • Publication
    Paying for flexibility - Increasing customer participation in demand response programs through rewards and punishments
    ( 2014-09-03) ; ;
    Cometta, Claudio
    Steering electricity demand will be a crucial aspect for guaranteeing energy system reliability when the share of fluctuating electricity supply from renewable energy increases. Thus, demand response programs (DR) play an important role in future energy systems (Hancher, 2013). However, an open question evolves around the question of how to best help customers to accept these programs (Hancher, 2013; Steg & Vlek, 2009, EU, 2003; He, Keyaerts et al., 2013). It is commonly assumed that customers should be financially compensated when they participate in DR (Hancher, 2013; DOE, 2006). This translates into understanding "Paying for flexibility" as rewarding DR participants for the provided flexibility. However, "Paying for flexibility" could also be understood in the way that customers will have to pay if they still want to have the flexibility of using electricity whenever and wherever they want in the future. In this case, DR would - instead of rewarding customers for participation through financial compensation - punish those customers who do not participate through the introduction of service fees. Similar to rewards, punishments are a measure of operant conditioning to influence behaviour (Skinner, 1938) and they have effectively been used in various social systems, e.g. traffic fines for speeding. In the light of recent theories of decision-making that distinguish between heuristic or "automatic" and information-based or "deliberative" decision-making processes (Weber & Johnson, 2009), the paper at hand investigates the role of punishment and reward for consumer acceptance of DR. Due to the common assumption that rewards are the appropriate intervention to increase customer acceptance of DR (Hancher, 2013; DOE, 2006) which is in line with established views in environmental behaviour (Osbaldiston & Schott, 2012; Kazdin, 2009; Steg & Vlek, 2009; Iyer & Kashyap, 2007; Abrahamse et al. 2005; Geller, 1995), electric utilities are inclined to design DR based on rewards. However, in an experimental study with 151 undergraduate students in their role of energy consumers at a business school in Switzerland, we find that DR schemes based on punishments are more effective in increasing customer participation in the program compared to DR schemes based on rewards. These findings can be explained with prospect theory and loss aversion (Kahneman & Tversky, 1984). We also find that there is no significant effect of punishments and rewards on customer loyalty towards the firm and attitude towards joining the DR. Thus, punishments are more effective in increasing customer participation without jeopardizing the loyalty of a company's customer base and the consumer's attitude towards joining DR. Additionally, they appear more efficient from an economic point of view as they result in lower costs (Balliet et al., 2011; Gächter, 2012): whereas the variable costs for reward-based DR increase with each participating customer, there are no variable costs for punishment-based DR. Based on our findings we encourage firms, policy makers and research not to be afraid of environmental fines and optimize the design of their customer intervention measures.?
  • Publication
    Customer Acceptance of Smart Grid: The role of psychological interventions and customer value
    ( 2013-11-12)
    Ph.D. Workshop at Energieinformatik 2013, Vienna Abstract long paper: Besides efficiently managing the energy supply - which has been the focus in the past - the efficient and effective management of the energy demand is nowadays considered to be of utmost importance in order to meet the energy challenges of the future. Politicians, managers, engineers and researchers alike agree on so-called smart grids being a promising solution in that regard. The smart grid provides various solutions, products and services - such as demand response programs, real-time feedback systems, smart metering solutions etc. -, which enable a better management of the demand for energy. However, these solutions must be employed at customer side and the customers need to accept and use them in their daily life. Only if customers actively accept and use these solutions and thus actively participate in the smart grid, one can fully exploit the opportunities regarding energy efficiency and demand control they offer. Thus, it is crucial to understand which factors increase customers' acceptance of smart grid technologies and services. In this PhD different interventions, including psychological interventions, will be tested in order to identify acceptance factors that increase customer participation in a smart grid. The results of this PhD should prove useful for managers as well as for policy makers when designing smart grid applications, developing products and service bundles, effective business models and incentive schemes.